By B.DULGUUN
The Director of the Institute of Language and Literature of the Mongolian Academy of Science (MAS), State Honored Emeritus and academician L.Bold gave an interview about language preservation issues in Mongolia.
Recently, the media has received many criticisms for bringing up issues about the safety of the Mongolian language. What is your position on the subject, as an expert on this matter?
I’ll just state my position. From the chambers of the parliament to ordinary stockholders, from the president to individual citizens, everyone is talking about the weakening of social value of the Mongolian language. It’s also written in medias. Today, we’re living in a completely new environment where our lifestyles are rapidly changing. Due to this, we’re acting irresponsibly to things, especially to the mother tongue. Inappropriate use is the main issue. For instance, getting carried away in trying to speed things up and developing unprocessed material, criticizing those who point out mistakes by saying that it’s just a comment on the web, and using foreign words to express things when it can be expressed in Mongolian words. All of these affect the weakening social functions of the Mongolian language.
Presently, it’s known as the spread of mother tongue. After reading few articles on the destruction of the mother tongues in other countries, all sorts of comments are written about the signs of approaching dangers. It hasn’t happened yet. As long as Mongolia and state language exist, there’s spread. Issues about knowledge of the mother tongue should be wide-ranged from government policies to individuals’ knowledge of the mother tongue.
Is there a way to organize the many dozens of foreign words that have become apart of our daily lives?
It’s possible. In the official state language law, it’s stated, “Translate foreign words to Mongolian or use it with explanation of its meanings.” From the history of MAS, in 1924, a terminology division with 10 sections was established adjacent to the Institute of Scripture, with J.Tseveen as the Head. Until the 1970s, this division was part of the Institute of Language and Literature and was responsible for correcting and setting terminologies. Mongolian terminologists play a big role in keeping Mongolian mother language clean. In 1990, many places lost their original purpose. According to the law, it’s stated that it will be part of the State Language Council. It separated from language experts and supervision. Minister of Culture Sports and Tourism Ts.Oyungerel once said that state activities related to the preservation of mother tongue will be separated from small divisions. The Head of the State Language Council is the minister in charge of culture. It hasn’t completely separated from small divisions. We must enrich and develop this precious heritage passed down from our ancestors and pass it to future generations.
To improve and develop the spread of mother tongue, what are scientists doing? Talks of academician Tumurtogoo about removing the letters “ú” and “ü” was not received well by many. If they are removed, how will you distinguish words such as “áîëü¸” (let’s stop) and “áîëú¸” (let’s become)?
It’s easy to remove “ú” and “ü.” You can write it as “áîë踔 and “áîëî¸.” The main issue isn’t that. China and Japan have used Chinese characters for a long time. No one can determine when Mongolian language was created. It’s a different issue to determine when the Mongolian language and Mongols were mentioned in history. Recently, the 2220th year anniversary of establishment of Khunnu Empire was celebrated. The core of this is that it proves that Mongolians existed during this time and it has been accepted by many countries. Mongolians had literature of ancestors which is mentioned as “kemo” in Chinese sources. Researchers translate this word as “cutting wood.” From our research, it had structured phonetic letters. Proof of this is the word “áè÷èã” (writing). The initial meaning of “áè÷èã” was printing and carving. Certain phonetics was carved on wood. In Turkic, it means “yazi” (in Mongolian it means to draw). From this, it can be concluded that Mongolia had phonetic scrip since Khunnu era. Mongolia had Uigarjin script which also has phonetic scrip from around fifth to sixth century.
From careful observations of many changes in Mongolian writing, it can be seen that Mongolians tried to include changes in phonetics to its script. If we see it from this perspective, there isn’t many linguistic basis on removing “ú” and “ü.” This issue was also discussed in the 1950s. Majority of the people wanted to keep them so Damdinsuren left it the same. The recent uproar was the same. For a nationality rich in history of literature and scripts, there’ll always be issues about writing rules. Even now, after starting to use new letters, Mongolians haven’t completely organized it. Scientists discuss solutions to overcome this matter domestically.
Approximately a year ago, a group of linguists met with the Prime Minister to submit a proposal and an approval and conclusion was made. Can you elaborate on this?
At the end of 2012, scientists of the School of Mongolian Language and Culture of the National University of Mongolia (NUM), School of Mongol Studies of the Mongolian State University of Education, and Institute of Language and Literature of the MAS joined to meet the Prime Minister. We proposed that we establish an integrated grammar dictionary. Students enrolling into universities and government employees give examinations on their knowledge of the mother language and take measurements to improve their grammar and writing skills on the media. The Prime Minister welcomed the proposal and approved the Resolution No.37 to improve the knowledge of Mongolian language and literature. We had basis to propose.
In 2012, with several of my colleagues, I approached the General Specialized Inspection Agency and conducted a broad research throughout the country on Mongolian language education program of general education schools and tested the language knowledge of middle school and high school teachers. At state levels, out of 12,423 fifth grade students of 172 general education schools, 7,169 students (53.4 percent) didn’t meet standards, and 65.7 percent of total students couldn’t complete 50 percent of given tasks. This is a truly regretful and insufficient statistic showing the depreciated knowledge of the Mongolian language. We shouldn’t hide this, there’s insufficiency in correct management of correct governmental laws and policies.
How will grammars of the media be organized?
Lately, the number of media has increased immensely. Currently in Mongolia, there are around 100 newspapers, some 50 television channels and on top of that there are radio FMs. On the one side, it is a good thing that the public has access to a variety of mediums to choose from. How well these medias are fulfilling their duty to strengthening the reach of the mother tongue is another issue. Mongolia hasn’t had the experience of having so many press and media. It’s necessary to learn from the experiences of places that have experiences in dealing with lots of media. For instance, at the end of each year, in Inner Mongolia and China, experts read notable published materials of the year. Analysis of every aspect of linguistics including grammar, terminology, meanings, and literature is done. If there’s a mistake, they take measurements for violating and creating distortion in language norms. There’s an Institute of Mother Tongue for implementing governmental policies about the Japanese language. This institute, besides publishing dictionaries with newly developed words, publicizes incorrect use of words, phrases and foreign words uses when it could’ve used Japanese words. The reputation of the media mentioned in this may either rise or drop depending on whether they were praised or criticized. We can start a campaign and discuss grammatical rules like China.
Secondly, as mentioned by Tudev, we should select publication companies that give the most accurate information concisely and completely. This isn’t an impossible work. Somebody needs to start it. It’s said that although Mongolia has a huge vocabulary, we talk in few words. I interpret this as insufficiency of work done to promote interest in literature among children from a young age and works associated with this.
The parliament is discussing the Mother Tongue Law. In the new legal project, was expert opinion on the subject adequately reflected?
Yes. I worked in the working group to develop the Mother Tongue Law. Legal documents must be developed accurately. The law must include the implementation procedure, how the press may use language, and who and at what level grammatical rules should be used. I believe that this law is an improvement upon the previous versions and able to surpass it. Parliament members talked about the law many times and made the public understand its significance. I hope that this law is approved in the near future.
You said that you wanted to get an integrated solution by holding a national mother language and cultural consultation to talk about pressing issues in the field. Is the ministry supporting this idea?
It’s clear that apart from us, educators, journalists, politicians, calligraphers, novelists and everyone in our society is related to this matter. A wonderful standard where many people discuss and come to resolutions is being established. With this in mind, we want to hold a national consultation. Minister Ts.Oyungerel is a very intelligent and strong willed person. She’ll probably make definite decisions for this. It seems that only financial issues are left. Not much money is required for this. I heard that some 100 thousand MNT was planned. I wonder how much a bucket of coal from Tavan Tolgoi costs. All I’m asking for is to give one or two shovels of coal. This seems possible.